Acoustic navigation device and method of detecting movement of a navigation device

ABSTRACT

A navigation device for navigating a user interface of a processor-controlled device includes an acoustic transmitter adapted to transmit an acoustic signal, an acoustic receiver adapted to receive the acoustic signal and located at a fixed position with respect to the acoustic transmitter, and a measurement circuit coupled to an output of the acoustic receiver and adapted to determine a distance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time.

BACKGROUND

As processor-based devices continue to proliferate, user interfaces areoften provided to allow a user to interact with the device. For examplethe user interface may allow a user to adjust operating characteristicsand to select features of the device made available for user control andselection by software executed by the device's processor. In any event,a user interface requires some means for a user to navigate through theuser interface to indicate desired user selections. Such a navigationdevice can be as simple as a keypad, or as advanced as athree-dimensional motion stage.

In a large number of processor-based devices, such as personal computers(PCs) in particular, a graphical user interface (GUI) is employed. Indevices employing a GUI, there is typically a need to provide anavigation device which can indicate a user's desire to move a referencepoint (e.g., a cursor) across the GUI. Known navigations devicesinclude: a trackball, a touchpad, a joystick, a touchscreen, ascrollwheel, a THINKPAD® pointer, a mechanical mouse having a mouse balland rollers, and a so-called “optical mouse.”

Each of these navigation devices has its benefits, but they all alsohave certain limitations.

For example, trackballs tend to be large and bulky. Also, these devicesget dirty and when that happens, then they perform poorly.

The mechanical mouse has been perhaps the most widely employednavigation device for PCs which employ a GUI. These devices arerelatively inexpensive to manufacture and easy to use. However, perhapseven more than trackballs, these devices also get dirty and then theyperform poorly.

As a result, the optical mouse has become more widely deployed in recentyears. There are several variations of the optical mouse, including LEDor laser illumination, imaging features directly or looking at specklereflections, etc. However all of these devices detect relative movementof the device based on light reflected from a “mouse pad” or otherreference surface along which the optical mouse is moved to an imagesensor. As a result, like a mechanical mouse, the optical devicerequires a reference surface along which it moves. Furthermore, in thecase of the optical mouse, certain surfaces—such as clean glass—will notwork.

What is needed, therefore, is a navigation device that may avoid some ofthe disadvantages of the devices discussed above. In particular, itwould be desirable to provide a navigation device that is less prone toimpaired operation due to dust and small dirt particles. It would alsobe desirable to provide a navigation device that can operate on cleanglass. It would further be desirable to provide a navigation device thatcan operate in free-space without any reference surface.

SUMMARY

In an example embodiment, a navigation device comprises: an acoustictransmitter adapted to transmit an acoustic signal; an acoustic receiveradapted to receive the acoustic signal and located at a fixed positionwith respect to the acoustic transmitter; and a measurement circuitcoupled to an output of the acoustic receiver and adapted to determine adistance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time.

In another example embodiment, a method is provided for navigating auser interface provided for a processor-controlled device. The methodcomprises: providing a navigation device including an acoustictransmitter and an acoustic receiver located at a fixed position withrespect to the acoustic transmitter; transmitting an acoustic signalfrom the acoustic transmitter; receiving the acoustic signal at anacoustic receiver; and determining a distance traversed by a navigationdevice as a function of time as a result of a user moving the navigationdevice to indicate a desired action in the user interface. The distanceis determined based on a phase or time of arrival of the receivedacoustic signal.

In yet another example embodiment, a system comprises aprocessor-controlled device associated with a display device forproviding a user interface to a user of the processor-controlled device,and a navigation device. The navigation device comprises: an acoustictransmitter adapted to transmit an acoustic signal, an acoustic receiveradapted to receive the acoustic signal and located at a fixed positionwith respect to the acoustic transmitter, and a measurement circuitcoupled to an output of the acoustic receiver and adapted to determine adistance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time and toprovide as least one navigation signal to the processor-controlleddevice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The example embodiments are best understood from the following detaileddescription when read with the accompanying drawing figures. It isemphasized that the various features are not necessarily drawn to scale.In fact, the dimensions may be arbitrarily increased or decreased forclarity of discussion. Wherever applicable and practical, like referencenumerals refer to like elements.

FIGS. 1A-B illustrate principles employed by one or more embodiments ofa navigation device as described herein.

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of an acoustic navigation device.

FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of a measurement circuit.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a processor controlled deviceincluding a navigation device.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of an acoustic navigation device.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of an acoustic navigation device.

FIG. 7 shows a fourth embodiment of an acoustic navigation device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation andnot limitation, example embodiments disclosing specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of an embodimentaccording to the present teachings. However, it will be apparent to onehaving ordinary skill in the art having had the benefit of the presentdisclosure that other embodiments according to the present teachingsthat depart from the specific details disclosed herein remain within thescope of the appended claims. Moreover, descriptions of well-knownapparati and methods may be omitted so as to not obscure the descriptionof the example embodiments. Such methods and apparati are clearly withinthe scope of the present teachings.

FIGS. 1A-B illustrate principles employed by one or more embodiments ofa navigation device as described herein.

FIG. 1A shows an acoustic transmitter 110 (e.g., an acoustic transducer,or speaker) transmitting an acoustic signal through the air which isthen received by an acoustic receiver 120 (e.g., an acoustic transduceror microphone). Acoustic receiver 120 is arranged to be at a fixedposition with respect to acoustic transmitter 110. This can be done by amechanical connection between acoustic transmitter 110 and acousticreceiver 120, for example by fixing both acoustic transmitter 110 andacoustic receiver 120 to a common assembly or housing (not shown inFIGS. 1A-B).

In FIG. 1A, acoustic transmitter 110 and acoustic receiver 120 arestationary. In this case, when an acoustic signal is launched fromacoustic transmitter 110 at time t=0, then the acoustic signal isreceived at acoustic receiver 120 at a later time t=t₁ determined by thevelocity of sound and the distance d₁ between acoustic transmitter 110and acoustic receiver 120.

Meanwhile, in FIG. 1B, acoustic transmitter 110 and acoustic receiver120 move with a velocity v(t). In this case, when an acoustic signal islaunched from acoustic transmitter 110 at time t=0, then the acousticsignal is received at acoustic receiver 120 at a later time t=t₂determined by the velocity of sound, c, and the distance d₂ between: (1)acoustic transmitter 110 at time t=0 when the acoustic signal waslaunched, and (2) acoustic receiver 120 at the time t=t₂ when theacoustic signal is received.

From this it can be seen that by measuring the time difference betweenthe time when an acoustic signal is transmitted by acoustic transmitter110 and the time when the acoustic signal is received by acousticreceiver 120 one can determine the distance traversed by acoustictransmitter 110 and acoustic receiver 120. This will now be explored ingreater detail.

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of an acoustic navigation device 200.Navigation device 200 includes acoustic transmitter 110, acousticreceiver 120, and a measurement circuit 250 provided in a housing orassembly 220, including standoffs 225. FIG. 2 also shows a referencesurface 50 along which navigation 200 may move for navigation. In abeneficial feature, reference surface 50 may be a clean glass surface.In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the acoustic signal propagatesfrom acoustic transmitter 110 to acoustic receiver 120 along an acousticpath that includes a reflection off of reference surface 50.

Now an exemplary operation of navigation device 200 will be explained.

Assume that navigation device 200 is moved such that its position variesas a function of time according to a velocity, v(t).

Also assume that an electrical excitation signal is applied to acoustictransmitter 110 to generate a single-tone acoustic signal. Theelectrical excitation signal, x₁(t), can be represented by equation (1):x ₁(t)=Re[V _(A) e ^(j(ωt+φ1))]  (1)where signal amplitude V_(A) and frequency ω are parameters selected fora particular system design and phase φ1 is an arbitrary phase offset.

Now the velocity of an acoustic wave in air can be represented by aconstant, c, which does not vary as a function of time. Therefore theacoustic signal propagates from acoustic transmitter 110 toward acousticreceiver 120 with a velocity, c.

Meanwhile, acoustic receiver 120 outputs an electrical signal inresponse to the received acoustic signal. The output electrical signal,x₂(t), can be represented by equation (2):x ₂(t)=Re[V _(B)(t)e ^(j(ωt+φ2(t)))]  (2)

Since, in general, the position of navigation device 200 varies as afunction (e.g., v(t)), then the position of acoustic receiver 120 whenthe acoustic signal is transmitted from acoustic transmitter 110 will bedifferent than the position of acoustic receiver 120 when the acousticsignal is received. In practical designs there may also be someamplitude variation in x₂(t), but for the purpose of this analysis, theamplitude can be approximated as being constant.

More importantly, however, the time required for acoustic signal toreach acoustic receiver 120 will also vary as the position of navigationdevice 200 changes. Since we have assumed a single-tone acoustic signal,this means—as seen in equation (2)—that the received phase includes acomponent, φ2(t), that varies as a function of time because it isdependent on the velocity of the navigation device, v(t).

First, consider the case of a stationary navigation device 200 wherev(t)=0. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the acoustic signal propagates atconstant velocity c over the fixed distance d₁ from acoustic transmitter110 to acoustic receiver 120. In that case, the total phase of theelectrical signal output by acoustic receiver 120, [ωt+φ2(t)], may bewritten as:

$\begin{matrix}{{{\omega\; t} + {\varphi\; 2(t)}} = {{\omega\left( {t - \frac{d_{1}}{c}} \right)} + \varphi_{0}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

From equation (3) it is seen that the output electrical signal atacoustic receiver 120 is a time-delayed version of the excitationelectrical signal applied to acoustic transmitter 110, where the timedelay is d₁/c, and where the phase ω₀ is a fixed phase delay due totransducer operations.

Next, consider the general case of navigation device 200 moving at avelocity v(t). In that case, as illustrated in FIG. 1B above, there is adistance d₂ from the point where the acoustic signal is transmitted byacoustic transmitter 110 to the point where it is received by acousticreceiver 120. In that case, the total phase at acoustic receiver 120,[ωt+φ2(t)], may be written as:

$\begin{matrix}{{{\omega\; t} + {\varphi\; 2(t)}} = {{\omega\left( {t - \frac{d_{2}}{c}} \right)} + \varphi_{0}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$

From equation (4) it is seen that the phase of the output signal haschanged as a result of the movement of navigation device 200.

Now, let t₁=d₁/c be the time required for the acoustic signal topropagate the distance d₁ from acoustic transmitter 110 to acousticreceiver 120 in the case of a stationary navigation device 200. Also,let t₂=d₂/c be the time required for the acoustic signal to propagatethe distance d₂ from acoustic transmitter 110 to acoustic receiver 120in the case of navigation device 200 moving with velocity v(t). Then:

$\begin{matrix}{{{c*t_{1}} + {\int_{0}^{t_{2}}{{v(\tau)}*{\mathbb{d}\tau}}}} = {c*t_{2}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$

For a constant velocity, v(t)=v₀, then equation (5) simplifies to:c*t ₁ +v ₀ *t ₂ =c*t ₂   (6)

Solving equation (6) for t₂, we find that:

$\begin{matrix}{t_{2} = {\left( \frac{c}{c - v_{0}} \right)t_{1}}} & (7)\end{matrix}$

Therefore, at any time t, the difference in phase Δφ of the outputsignal from acoustic receiver 120 between: (1) navigation device 200moving at velocity v(t)=v₀, and (2) navigation device 200 beingstationary (i.e., v(t)=0), is:Δφ=[ω(t−t ₂)+φ₀]−[ω(t−t ₁)+φ₀]=ω(t ₁ −t ₂)   (8)

Plugging equation (7) into equation (8), we find:

$\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\varphi} = {{\omega\left( {t_{1} - {\left( \frac{c}{c - v_{0}} \right)t_{1}}} \right)} = {{- \omega}\;\frac{d_{1}}{c}\frac{v_{0}}{\left( {c - v_{0}} \right)}}}} & (9)\end{matrix}$

For a velocity v₀<<c, then equation (9) simplifies to:

$\begin{matrix}{{{\Delta\varphi} \approx {{- \omega}\;\frac{d_{1}}{c^{2}}v_{0}}} = {\frac{2\pi\; d_{1}}{\lambda\; c}v_{0}}} & (10)\end{matrix}$

Now, corresponding to the phase difference Δφ is a difference Δτ, intime of arrival of the acoustic signal at acoustic receiver 120 between:(1) navigation device 200 moving at velocity v(t)=v₀, and (2) navigationdevice 200 being stationary (i.e., v(t)=0). From the equations above, itis seen that:

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\tau} = {t_{2} - t_{1}}} \\{= {{\left( \frac{c}{c - v_{0}} \right)t_{1}} - t_{1}}} \\{= {\left( \frac{c - \left( {c - v_{0}} \right)}{c - v_{0}} \right)t_{1}}} \\{= {\left( \frac{- v_{0}}{c - v_{0}} \right)\frac{d_{1}}{c}}} \\{\approx {\frac{- d_{1}}{c^{2}}v_{0}}}\end{matrix} & (11)\end{matrix}$

Thus the time difference Δτ is independent of the actual frequency ofthe acoustic signal. So it can be seen that by measuring the phasedifference Δφ or the time difference Δτ, one can determine the velocityv₀ of navigation device 200.

In a practical application, the following values may be selected:

-   -   c=344 m/sec (speed of sound at sea level at 21° C.)    -   ω=2πf=2π*180,000 (e.g., the peak resonance of a miniature        piezoelectric microphone)    -   d₁=2 cm    -   v₀=2 cm/sec (example speed for moving the navigation sensor)

In that case, from equation (10), it is found that Δφ=0.00382 radians.

For a system with a minimal resolvable speed or 1 mm/sec, then fromequations (10) and (11) it is found that Δφ=0.00382 radians and Δτ=169picoseconds. A clock with a period of 169 picoseconds corresponds to afrequency of about 5.92 GHz.

In an embodiment, the measurement of the phase difference between theexcitation electrical signal applied to acoustic transducer 110, and theoutput electrical signal of acoustic receiver 120 can be readilyimplemented. In addition, a phase offset subtraction with resolutionequivalent to less than the 169 picoseconds resolution would be includedto minimize a slow error drift term in the distance measurement.

To find the relationship between distance traversed by navigation device200 and Δτ, we begin by solving equation (10) above for velocity:

$\begin{matrix}{v_{0} = {{- \frac{c^{2}}{\omega*d_{1}}}{\Delta\varphi}}} & (12)\end{matrix}$

Now assuming a constant velocity v₀, the distance traversed as afunction of time, d(t) can be found as:

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{d(t)} = {\int_{0}^{t}\left( {v_{0}*{\mathbb{d}\alpha}} \right)}} \\{= {- {\int_{0}^{t}\left( {\frac{c^{2}}{d_{1}}{\Delta\tau}*{\mathbb{d}\alpha}} \right)}}} \\{= {{- \frac{c^{2}}{d_{1}}}{\int_{0}^{t}\left( {{\Delta\tau}*{\mathbb{d}\alpha}} \right)}}} \\{= {{- \frac{c^{2}}{d_{1}}}*{\Delta\tau}*t}}\end{matrix} & (13)\end{matrix}$where Δτ can be measured by the difference in timing of the phasebetween acoustic receiver 120 and the phase at acoustic transmitter 110,with the fixed offset between them subtracted out first, equivalent toequation (11).

Furthermore, equation (13) is a good approximation in the case of a timevarying velocity, v(t). In that case:

$\begin{matrix}{{d(t)} = {{- \frac{c^{2}}{d_{1}}}{\int_{0}^{t}{{{\Delta\tau}(\alpha)}*{\mathbb{d}\alpha}}}}} & (14)\end{matrix}$

For a navigation device, absolute accuracy of the motion (versusrelative motion) is not necessarily important as the GUI may, forexample, in software modify the speed of the reference point (e.g. acursor) controlled by the navigation device across the GUI in anonlinear fashion relative to the actual speed of the device.

FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of a measurement circuit 250 which may beemployed in navigation device 200 to determine a distance traversed bynavigation device 200 as a function of time. Measurement circuit 250includes phase detector 310, low pass filter 320, and an integrator 330.In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3, integrator 330 comprises ananalog-to-digital converter (ADC) 332 and a digital accumulator 334.

Measurement circuit 250 measures the phase difference between thetransmitted signal (φ-transmitter) and the received signal (φ-receiver),rather than attempting to measure the phase of each signalindependently.

Phase detector 310 receives the excitation electrical signal(φ-transmitter) that is applied to acoustic transmitter 110 and theoutput electrical signal (φ-receiver) from acoustic receiver 120 andoutputs a phase difference signal corresponding to a phase shift betweenthe excitation electrical signal and the output electrical signal. Inthe embodiment of FIG. 3, phase detector 310 also receives an offsetterm (offset) corresponding to the fixed phase offset between acoustictransmitter 110 and acoustic receiver 120, for example due to thepropagation of the acoustic signal across the distance d₁ betweenacoustic transmitter 110 and acoustic receiver 120. The offset term mayalternatively be subtracted out at various points in the signal path(e.g. digitally from the output of the ADC 332 before digitalaccumulator 334).

Because acceleration of navigation device 200 may be relatively slow,especially compared to the frequency of the acoustic signal, the outputof phase detector 310 may be averaged over many cycles. For example, ata frequency of 180 kHz, within a time period of 0.25 seconds of motion,the acoustic signal has over 45,000 cycles. Low pass filter 320 filtersthe phase difference signal from phase detector 310 for averaging andnoise filtering.

Integrator 330 integrates the filtered phase difference signal over timeto output a signal indicating the distance traversed by navigationdevice 200 as a function of time.

Of benefit, it is also possible with navigation device 200 to determinewhen it has been lifted off of reference surface 50, for example, bydetecting when the intensity of the sound wave is reduced due to thelack of reflection from surface 50. It is possible that when navigationdevice 200 is lifted then a phase change will occur and be interpretedas a navigation movement. In that case, a separate sensor may beprovided for detecting liftoff and/or a button may be provided for auser to depress to indicate a liftoff condition (for example, to allowthe user to reposition navigation device 200 on reference surface 50without making any corresponding movement or navigation in the userinterface). Other arrangements for detecting a liftoff condition arepossible.

The discussion above has illustrated how the distance traversed bynavigation device 200 as a function of time can be determined withacoustic transmitter 110, acoustic receiver 120, and measurement circuit250. Thus a user may employ navigation device 200 to navigate a userinterface of a processor-controlled device (e.g., a PC employing a GUI)in a similar manner to a mechanical or optical mouse.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a system 400 including a navigationdevice 200. System 400 includes a processor-controlled device (e.g.,computer processor) 410 having associated memory 415, a display screen420, and a navigation device 200. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, processor410 executes a software algorithm that provides a GUI via display screen420 that may be navigated by a user via navigation device 200. As a usermoves navigation device 200 it provides at least a navigation signal toprocessor-controlled device 410. Of course as explained above,navigation device 200 could be employed in a variety of other types ofsystems having processor-controlled devices, and thus FIG. 4 simplyillustrates one example.

Although the discussion above has explained how the distance traversedby navigation device 200 as a function of time can be determined in onedimension, these principles can be extended to two dimensions and threedimensions to produce a navigation device for two-dimensional (2-D) andthree-dimensional (3-D) navigation. In one embodiment, the navigationdevice may include multiple acoustic transmitters and associatedmultiple acoustic receivers to span a 2-D or 3-D space for 2-D and 3-Dnavigation. In another embodiment, a single acoustic transmitter may beemployed, and a plurality of acoustic receivers having differentpositions in the different directions spanning the 2-D or 3-D space(e.g., x, y, and z directions) all receive the acoustic signal from thesingle acoustic transmitter. In yet another embodiment, a singleacoustic transmitter and a single acoustic receiver are employed with aplurality of acoustic frequencies, where each frequency propagates alonga different acoustic path from the acoustic transmitter to the acousticreceiver, such that the different acoustic paths span a 2-D or 3-D spacefor facilitating 2-D or 3-D navigation.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of an acoustic navigation device 500.

For simplification of explanation, only the differences betweennavigation device 400 and navigation device 200 will be explained now.

Navigation device 500 includes a first acoustic reflector 510, a firstsound guide 520, a second sound guide 522, and a second acousticreflector 512.

First acoustic reflector 510 is adapted to reflect the acoustic signaltoward an input of first sound guide 520.

First sound guide 520 provides the acoustic signal to acoustic receiver120. Although illustrated in FIGS. 5-7 as tubes, in actuality the soundguides may comprise a section of molded plastic or other material withjust an exposed opening which is shaped in some manner to provide a pathfor the acoustic signal to enter and exit device 500. Accordingly, theterm sound guide should not be narrowly construed.

The measurement device 250 measures the differential phase of theacoustic signal due to the differential relative air velocity betweenthe acoustic signal path in the open air and the enclosed return path ofsound guide 520. Meanwhile, second sound guide 522 directs any part ofthe acoustic signal reflected by acoustic receiver 120 away fromacoustic receiver 120 such that the reflected acoustic signal is notfurther reflected back toward acoustic receiver 120 and helps reduce airvelocity in the sound guides 520 and 530 relative to the housing 220. Inthis case, second sound guide 522 directs any part of the acousticsignal reflected by acoustic receiver 120 toward second acousticreflector 522 which directs the reflected acoustic signal away fromacoustic receiver 120.

Of benefit, in the navigation device 500, acoustic transmitter 110 andacoustic receiver 120 are collocated. Therefore, they may be provided ina common module, or in the same integrated circuit.

Several modifications of navigation device 500 are possible in keepingwith its general principles of operation. For example, FIG. 5 showsfirst and second acoustic reflectors 510 and 512. However, one or bothof these elements may be omitted if other means are provided fordirecting the acoustic signal back to acoustic receiver 120. Forexample, first and second sound guides 520 and 522 may be designed tochannel and redirect the acoustic signal effectively in a desireddirection. In particular, if first sound guide 510 can pick up theacoustic wave and redirect it back to acoustic receiver 120, then theseparate acoustic reflector 520 may be omitted. Also, FIG. 5 illustratesa case where the acoustic signal propagates first from acoustictransmitter 110 through “open air,” and then through sound guide 520 toacoustic receiver 120. However, the order may be swapped such that theacoustic signal propagates first from acoustic transmitter 110 through asound guide, and then through open air back to acoustic receiver 520.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of an acoustic navigation device 600.For simplification of explanation, only the differences betweennavigation device 600 and navigation device 200 will be explained now.

Navigation device 600 includes a first sound guide 610 and a secondsound guide 620 separated and spaced apart from the first sound guide610.

In navigation devices 200 and 500, if the reference surface 50 has toomuch surface roughness, it may result in random signal cancellation,amplitude fluctuations, and large phase changes.

In contrast, with navigation sensor 600 the principle acoustic path fromacoustic transmitter 110 and acoustic receiver 120 no longer includesreflection off of reference surface 50 so the problems associated withsurface roughness can be ameliorated.

FIG. 7 shows a fourth embodiment of an acoustic navigation device 700.This navigation device is the same as navigation device 600, except thatthe standoffs 225 have been removed. Navigation device 700 may beemployed as a free-space navigation device without use of any referencesurface. This could be especially useful for many gaming applications.

All of the navigation devices 500, 600 and 700 can be extended to 2-Dand 3-D navigation, as explained above. Also, any of the navigationdevices 500, 600, or 700 could be employed in the system 400 illustratedin FIG. 4.

While example embodiments are disclosed herein, one of ordinary skill inthe art appreciates that many variations that are in accordance with thepresent teachings are possible and remain within the scope of theappended claims. The embodiments therefore are not to be restrictedexcept within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A navigation device, comprising: an acoustic transmitter adapted totransmit an acoustic signal; a first acoustic receiver adapted toreceive the acoustic signal and located at a first fixed position withrespect to the acoustic transmitter; a measurement circuit coupled to anoutput of the acoustic receiver and adapted to determine a distancetraversed by the navigation device as a function of time; and a secondacoustic receiver adapted to receive the acoustic signal and located ata second fixed position with respect to the acoustic transmitter,wherein the measurement circuit is further coupled to an output of thesecond acoustic receiver and adapted to determine a distance traversedby the navigation device as a function of time in both a first directionand a second direction different from the first direction, where thefirst and second directions span a two-dimensional space.
 2. The deviceof 1, further comprising a housing adapted to be moved by a human handto navigate a user interface of a processor-based device.
 3. The deviceof claim 2, further comprising a first sound guide in an acoustic pathbetween the acoustic transmitter and the first acoustic receiver.
 4. Thedevice of claim 3, further comprising a second sound guide separated andspaced apart from the first sound guide in the acoustic path between theacoustic transmitter and the first acoustic receiver, wherein the firstsound guide is adapted to guide the acoustic signal toward an input ofthe second sound guide, and wherein the second sound guide is adapted toprovide the acoustic signal to the acoustic receiver.
 5. The device ofclaim 3, wherein the acoustic transmitter and the first acousticreceiver are collocated in a common module or in a same integratedcircuit, wherein the navigation device further comprises means forchanneling the acoustic signal back toward the first acoustic receiver.6. The method of claim 5, wherein the measurement circuit determines adistance traversed by the navigation device as a function of time as aresult of there being a difference, when the navigation device is moved,between: (1) an average velocity of the air through which the acousticsignal is propagating in the open; and (2) an average velocity of theair through which the acoustic signal is propagating in the sound guide.7. The device of claim 3, further comprising a second sound guideseparated and spaced apart from the first sound guide, wherein thesecond sound guide is adapted to direct any part of the acoustic signalreflected by the first acoustic receiver away from the first acousticreceiver such that the reflected acoustic signal is not furtherreflected back toward the first acoustic receiver, and is furtheradapted to minimize air velocity in the first sound guide.
 8. The deviceof claim 1, wherein: the acoustic transmitter is adapted to receive anelectrical excitation signal and in response thereto to generate andtransmit the acoustic signal having at least a first frequency; theacoustic receiver is adapted to output an output electrical signal inresponse to the received acoustic signal, and the measurement circuit isadapted to measure a phase difference at the first frequency between theexcitation electrical signal and the output electrical signal and todetermine therefrom the distance traversed by the navigation device as afunction of time.
 9. The device of claim 1, further comprising means fordetermining when the navigation device has been lifted off a referencesurface on which it navigates.
 10. A navigation device, comprising: anacoustic transmitter adapted to transmit an acoustic signal; an acousticreceiver adapted to receive the acoustic signal and located at a fixedposition with respect to the acoustic transmitter; and a measurementcircuit coupled to an output of the acoustic receiver and adapted todetermine a distance traversed by the navigation device as a function oftime, wherein the acoustic transmitter is adapted to receive anelectrical excitation signal and in response thereto to generate andtransmit the acoustic signal having at least a first frequency; whereinthe acoustic receiver is adapted to output an output electrical signalin response to the received acoustic signal, wherein the measurementcircuit is adapted to measure a phase difference at the first frequencybetween the excitation electrical signal and the output electricalsignal and to determine therefrom the distance traversed by thenavigation device as a function of time, and wherein the measurementdevice comprises: a phase detector adapted to receive the excitationelectrical signal and the output electrical signal and to output a phasedifference signal corresponding to a phase shift between the excitationelectrical signal and the output electrical signal, a low pass filteradapted to filter the phase difference signal from the phase detector;and an integrator adapted to integrate the filtered phase differencesignal over time to output a signal indicating the distance traversed bythe navigation device as a function of time.
 11. The device of claim 10,wherein the acoustic receiver comprises one of an electret condensermicrophone, a piezoelectric microphone, and a capacitive siliconmicroelectromechanical system.
 12. The device of claim 10, wherein: thetransmitted acoustic signal further includes a second frequency; and themeasurement circuit is further adapted to measure a second phasedifference at the second frequency between the excitation electricalsignal and the output electrical signal, and in response thereto todetermine the distance traversed by the navigation device as a functionof time in both a first direction and a second direction different fromthe first direction, where the first and second directions span atwo-dimensional space.
 13. The device of claim 10, further comprising: asecond acoustic transmitter adapted to transmit a second acousticsignal; and a second acoustic receiver adapted to receive the secondacoustic signal and located at a second fixed position with respect tothe second acoustic transmitter, wherein the measurement circuit isadapted to determine the distance traversed by the navigation device asa function of time in both a first direction and a second directiondifferent from the first direction, where the first and seconddirections span a two-dimensional space.
 14. The device of claim 10wherein the measurement circuit is adapted to determine the distancetraversed by the navigation device as a function of time in each of: afirst direction; a second direction different from the first direction,and a third direction different from the first and second directions,where the first, second, and third directions span a three-dimensionalspace.
 15. The device of claim 10, further comprising means fordetermining when the navigation device has been lifted off a referencesurface on which it navigates.
 16. A method of navigating a userinterface provided for a processor-controlled device, the methodcomprising: providing a navigation device including an acoustictransmitter and an acoustic receiver located at a fixed position withrespect to the acoustic transmitter; transmitting an acoustic signalfrom the acoustic transmitter; receiving the acoustic signal at anacoustic receiver; and determining a distance traversed by a navigationdevice as a function of time as a result of a user moving the navigationdevice to indicate a desired action in the user interface, wherein thedistance is determined based on a phase or time of arrival of thereceived acoustic signal, wherein the user navigates with the navigationdevice in free space without reference to any surface.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the distance traversed by the navigation device as afunction of time is determined in at least a first direction and asecond direction different from the first direction, where the first andsecond directions span a two-dimensional space.
 18. The method of claim17, wherein the distance traversed by the navigation device as afunction of time is also determined in a third direction different fromboth the first and second directions, where the first, second and thirddirections span a three-dimensional space.
 19. The method of claim 16,further comprising: providing an electrical excitation signal to theacoustic transmitter to generate the acoustic signal having at least afirst frequency; and outputting an output electrical signal from theacoustic receiver in response to the received acoustic signal, andwherein determining a distance traversed by a navigation device includesmeasuring a phase difference at the first frequency between theexcitation electrical signal and the output electrical signal.
 20. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising guiding the acoustic signalthrough a first sound guide in an acoustic path between the acoustictransmitter and the acoustic receiver.
 21. The method of claim 16,wherein the navigation device includes a second acoustic transmitter anda second acoustic receiver, the method further comprising: transmittinga second acoustic signal from the acoustic transmitter; receiving thesecond acoustic signal at an acoustic receiver; wherein the distancetraversed by the navigation device as a function of time is determinedin both a first direction and a second direction, where the first andsecond directions span a two-dimensional space.